geronimo2006 comments

How dare you try to speak up. How dare you try to get together to protect yourselves. How dare you try to oppose our incursions and threatening behaviour in the South China Seas. It all belongs to us. And while we are at it don't say anything about our support Russia.

Start strengthening alliances and impose sanctions on China whenever China behaves like this. Keep in mind China very much relies on trade. Most of it is with the very democracies it theatens.

Biden shouldn't make claims he can't back, and other countries know it. After seeing what's happening with Ukraine it's clear the US will be unable or unwilling (hobotora).

Enough of Russia and China's threatening rhetoric towards peaceful nations. Japan should increase defense spending, and start exporting arms and munitions to help the free world defend itself from these thugs. Yes. Russia is the enemy.

China illegally claims the whole of the South China Sea and is willing to enforce this through millitary force. All the more reason why there needs to be an strong alliance against China, much like NATO is against Russia.

Good job Japan. Doing the right thing.

Exactly. Now bow deeply before you leave for your next well-paid do-next-to-nothing job where you'll have ample time to reflect on your crimes and feel remorse. Poor you.

NATO bases won't be hosting F-16s that take any part in the war. This is just fear mongering by Putin which I think shows he really fears F-16s shooting down his airforce and neutralizing the threat of glide bombs, which is one strong advantage he has. Upgraded F-16s will outmatch most of Russia's airforce of which Russia has limited stocks of. One more reason to get them and more Patriots there fast. I see Russia lost another SU-35 this morning.

We'll turn our attention to it and we won't delay on that.

That is very much like a Japanese politician saying they are going to consider something. I very much doubt anything will happen before November. It is clearly Trump/MAGA strategy to make things go as bad as possible to improve Trump's chances of winning the election, and the hard-right have already said they are against supporting Ukraine. It's a big win for Putin and it seems he is winning the war in the information space.

He must think they are complete idiots, especially after having had their technology stolen over so many years. And those executives must realize he plans to invade Taiwan. And when he does their investments will be hostage, just like in Russia.

Even ChatGPT, in all its knowledge and wisdom, agrees

Yes, there are undoubtedly many potential benefits to be gained from AI technology. However, to claim that all developers are diligently working to mitigate the risks is both disingenuous and dangerous. The reality is that the pursuit of profit and technological advancement often takes precedence over ethical considerations and long-term consequences.

Well of course he's going to sound upbeat. But like most addictions, it won't end well for some while a few will profit out of it. Companies, CEOs and investors are drooling over how AI will allow them to cut staffing and costs.

The more Russia tries to pin the blame on Ukraine the more it makes me think this is a smoking gun operation, which is something Putin used before to secure power in the 1990s. It seems very very strange to me how a group of terrorists first managed to get weapons into the hall unnoticed especially given their appearance. Then leisurely murder 139 people and injure many more firing over 500 rounds as well as have time to set fire to the building without police or special forces arriving to stop them. And then drive off unhindered to be miraculously captured a couple of hours later in the direction of Ukraine. All this just after Putin's election.

They literally have the guys that did it, the organization behind it has admitted doing it, provided evidence to back that claim up, and everything about it is completely consistent with them having done it.

Yes. It is very clear ISIS or IS-K is responsible. But many Russians don't have access to free press and get their news from national tv, which gives Putin control over the narrtive that somehow Ukraine and the wicked West is responsible. And, rather than seeing Putin as the incompetent sociopathic buffoon he is, they will see him as some kind of defender. I doubt if many Russians will be able to see through the propaganda. Furthermore, the Kremlin through troll farms will export this narrative through SNS and right-wing media to weaken support for Ukraine. They have been very successful at doing this, and I'm sure this is Putin's goal. He doesn't care about the lives of the concert goers any more than the lives of soldiers he sends to their deaths. He is very smart and skillful at turning a threat into an opportunity.

A shame for the fans. From the pic I'd say they were genuinely enthusiastic. Probably not much else in NK to get too excited by.

I'm not sure I believe the whole line about how Ohtani was just an innocent victim because I find it hard to believe Ohtani didn't know something was going on given how close they were. Once people start gambling heavily people inevitably find out and rumours start going round. Sounds to me more like damage control.

Don't quite understand the logic of banning Belarus. Is it because of their support and close ties to Russia? If so shouldn't North Korea and Iran be banned for supporting Russia? And if Russia gets banned shouldn't Israel be banned? And then the US for supporting Israel.

Another political ploy by Trump to keep the spotlight on him which he believes will only strengthen his run for the Whitehouse. You'd think he could sell assets to pay bond like a normal person, but then that would show how much he overinflated the value of his assets, which I'm sure he definitely does not want to do right now. And it sounds like nobody wants to lend him cash, but you can't blame them. His slim chance of winning the election is his only hope of avoiding a financial train wreck and jail time. Hence the massive interest payment.

At least with deflation, which was very mild, stagnant wages meant real wages rose albeit very slightly. Now things are much worse with stagflation and higher taxes. Meanwhile Keidanren and their LDP sidekicks live in a bubble. They enjoy the benefits of higher profits and rising stock prices while the average Taro is worse off. It's no surprise growth is anaemic and the birthrate continues to call. Bring back deflation I say.

Bit early for the fireworks season. Better luck next time.

Decoupling, derisking, call it what you want but China is not as appealing as it once was. While the China's VP promotes doing business in China to help China's economy recover, China continues to threaten Taiwan, steal intellectual property and detain business people. Added to this is the rise of lower-cost India, with its strong growth and younger population as the go-to destination for investment. There is also the possibility of higher tarrifs on imports from China if Trump gets re-elected. US businesses would put with unfair practices in the past because the gains outweighed the risks. Not any more.

It seems that things for Ukraine are becoming desperate as munitions run out. And I don't seem a significant flow of aid is coming anytime soon. Europe's stock of munitions is basically exhausted. Only the US has significant stockpiles and who knows if or when it will come. Macron is speaking the unspeakable because without support Ukraine will fall and then probably bits of Moldova, Balitics states might be next. The Russian economy is on a war footing, and I don't see any reason Putin would stop while America does nothing.

Putin is a master of information warfare. He knows the US is on the backfoot, and with his friends Iran and NK providing him with missiles and munitions, he knows he can press his advantage in Ukraine and there is nothing Biden can do while his hands are tied by house republicans. He doesn't care who is President, although I'm sure he could manipulate Trump easily. He just cares the US is divided over foreign policy, which it very much is. A weakened US and NATO alliance is his goal.

Putin, being ex-KGB, no doubt studied Stalin who was quoted as saying.

“When there's a person, there's a problem. When there's no person, there's no problem.”

Wonder if the body will ever be released. Maybe not. Also, I wonder what happened to the bodies of the Ukrainians prisoners that were supposedly on board a plane that got shot down a couple of weeks ago. You'd think the Russians would show pictures of them. That story has gone mysteriously quiet. Russia, a land of mystery, where opponents of Putin meet their fate in suspicious circumstances.

Low wage increases, low interest rates together with strong exports is obviously driving stock prices higher.

Not really sure why JT always reports everytime the NK leadership says something threatening. They do that fairly regularly and of course nothing happens. I would say this is just internal propaganda. I guess he does feel threatened by SK's economic success and growing cultural influence.

Putin can't be trusted. He blatantly lied when he said he wasn't going to invade Ukraine. He is only saying he doesn't have an interest in invading other countries because he doesn't have the capability anymore. In a couple of years he will have rebuilt that capability. Not to be trusted.

It's not clear if (Trump) fully understands the content of the deal

If (relevant authorities) look at the details of the deal

Sorry, I don't think details are something Trump understands or bothers reading. And then again Trump doesn't bother with things like the truth or other people's livelihoods. If only they could condense it down to short sentences and send it to him by SMS all capatalized - like this THIS DEAL WILL MAKE AMERICA A LOT OF MONEY. A LOT OF MONEY!!! IT'S SO GREAT. GONNA MAKE A LOT OF MONEY!

If he could ask Putin directly the question - Why did you invade Ukraine? and get a straight answer then perhaps there could be some value in it, but I very much doubt if that will happen. Putin will not clearly state his goal, which is the complete subjugation of Ukraine. More likely this will be a tightly stage-managed affair to further Putin's propaganda goals while at the same time giving Carlson some much needed media attention. It will be nothing like Hard Talk.

From everything I've read Zaluzhnyi is an extremely good general who, with limited resources, saved Kiev and now has degraded the Russian army to the point where Russia is now having to pull out of storage extremely old and obsolete tanks like the T54/55, and rely on Iran and North Korea for munitions. He has, through pivoting to defense, destroyed Russia's offensive capacity. Russia now resorts to sending human meat waves on the back of tanks and armoured vehicles which gets slaughtered mostly by drones. The current situation is deadlocked and he clearly understands this can not be broken without mass mobilization of men and resources, which would be politically unpopular. Russia would like nothing better than to see Zaluzhnyi fired. It would be a massive mistake, and by doing this Ukraine might lose even more Western support. Zelenskyy is not coming up with the plan to lead Ukraine to victory, but rather to support a political agenda. Bad move.

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